Michael Amato is intrigued by the photography of subcultures: Mike Brodie's Polaroid chronicles of train-hoppers, Anton Kusters' immersion into the Yakuza, Morgan Ashcom's images of skateboard-riding anarchists. He wanted to do a series of his own, and he chose the "burners," or fire artists, of Hawaii.

"I was fascinated by their lifestyle. It's not just art, it's a culture and an alternative lifestyle," said Amato, a Cromwell native who graduated from UConn in May with a degree in fine arts/photography. "They don't live like most people. Some don't have careers and don't want careers. They live day to day."

"Flowhana," an exhibit of 15 of Amato's photos, will be on the walls at MAC650 Gallery, 650 Main St. in Middletown, the entire month of June. The opening reception, on June 1 from 5 to 8 p.m., coincides with Middletown's monthly ArtWalk.

To the outside world, burners, also known as flow artists, are best known for performing in front of the effigy each year at Burning Man, the annual gathering of artists that takes place in the Nevada desert. "It's a branch of circus arts and juggling, but it's very different, in the context, in the style, in the music. It's really performance art combining fire and dance," Amato said. "The experience takes over all your senses, the music, the fire. It's overwhelming."

The burners gather weekly at Magic Island Beach Park in Oahu and periodically at "fire jams." "They're just like jazz musicians, jamming with other artists," Amato said.

Artists use staffs, hoops, swords, nunchucks, knives, metal umbrellas, fans and other apparatus, many of them reconfigured martial-arts instruments. The tools are made of metal, which the artists can touch, as well as Kevlar soaked with propane, which are set on fire. They perform with a wide variety of acrobatic and dance movements, creating patterns that glow against the night sky.

"It's not a question of 'will I catch on fire?' because you will catch on fire. Almost all of them have gnarly burns on their bodies," Amato said. "It's like snowboarding. If you're not falling off, you're not learning."

Since all fire-art activities happen at night, Amato uses a Canon 6D, which is especially adept at low-light photography. He merely hung around the fire artists and photographed them, hovering around the edges of their world. He tried a few times to do the flow-art himself.

"I tried using the dragon staff at the festival but I've never been very good with balance. It's all about balance," he said. "It's a lot of fun but it requires hours and hours of practice."